She says piracy hurts the small players in the industry, not just big film companies. "Film piracy affects everybody, from a small Australian creative film maker, their local video store, their local cinema, the people who might or might not get a job in those businesses," she said. Ms Pecotic says piracy costs the Australian film industry more than $230 million, so AFACT is about to launch a new campaign to try to change people's views.
"Downloading pirated films may seem harmless. But what you're really burning is the future of Australian films," the advertisement says. The story behind Kenny would make a film in its own right, with the Jacobson brothers using family members in starring roles and Splashdown's real workers lending their expertise to the film's fictional company.
In a surprise happy ending, the Jacobsons' unique approach won industry awards, made more than $8 million in the cinemas and claimed the title of bestseller in the legitimate DVD industry. Mr Preusker says there is even a subplot in how that pirated version made its way to Splashdown. "It was a fantastic copy, it was an excellent copy, so much so, it wasn't taken by a handycam, it was a much better quality than that," he said.
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